Military Macaw

The military macaw was formally described in 1766 by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 12 edition of his Systema Naturae, where he placed it within the genus Psittacus, coining the binomial name Psittacus militaris. Linnaeus did not specify a type locality, but it was designated as 'Colombia' in 1912. The military macaw is, now, one of ten species in the genus Ara, designated in 1799 by French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède. The name Ara comes directly from the Tupi word ará ("macaw"), of the native Brazilian Tupi people. The word is also an onomatopoeia of the typically raucous vocalizations made by macaws. The specific epithet militaris is Latin meaning "military". Three subspecies are recognised: * A. m. mexicanus Ridgway, 1915 – Western México. * A. m. militaris (Linnaeus, 1766) – Colombia, northwestern Venezuela, Ecuador, north and southeastern Perú and northwestern Bolivia. * A. m. bolivianus Reichenow, 1908 – Central Bolivia and northwestern Argentina.

Military macaws live in large flocks and can live about 50–60 years in the wild. They can often be heard long before they are seen. They are very noisy birds making a variety of loud cracking and shrieking sounds, including a loud kraa-aak. Military macaw activity has been observed most frequently in the morning and the evening meaning they are most likely a crepuscular species.

Military macaws leave their roosts in flocks around dawn to forage. Their diet consists of mostly seeds but also includes fruits and leaves.

]] Pair-bonding behaviors include grooming and regurgitation and have been observed during breeding and non-breeding periods. Courtship occurs as early as March, and copulation in May to July. Breeding season is typically between March and October while incubation and hatching occur during August and September. During the breeding season, the male will feed the female 3–4 times a day.

]] , Mexico]] Military macaws typically inhabit tropical deciduous and semi-deciduous forests. However, these macaws may seasonally fly down to lowlands, where they are likely in humid forests and thorny woodlands. They will nest in the tops of trees 8–28 m off the ground, and more often in cliff faces over above the ground. The military macaw has escaped or been deliberately released into Florida, USA, but there is no evidence that the population is breeding and may only persist due to continuing releases or escapes.

Military macaws are estimated to only have a breeding population of 2000–7000 individuals and is continuing to decrease. According to the ICUN red list, military macaws are listed as vulnerable as they face threats from habitat loss due to crops, deforestation, mining, and roads, with already extremely fragmented populations. Despite this, research shows that the trafficking of parrots from South America to North America is still common. Though they have moderate genetic diversity, they are still risk of population bottlenecks due to habitat fragmentation and inbreeding.